I have an idea for a review - one of the best episodes actually! Do a Canterlot Wedding! ^^ _(What? I have to keep the time stream stable until we are able to exit this time loop!)_
Celestia locked Luna away because Celestia wanted to remove her sister from the equation and seize absolute power for herself, and remake Equestria in her image and cement her cult of personality. You never hear a pony say "Thank Luna" or "With Luna as my witness"
Answer to your question at the end. In the beginning of The Return of Harmony, Celestia mentions how the mane six were able to harness the full power of the elements. Perhaps Celestia alone couldn't harness the full power and could only solve the problem temporarily by sending Luna to the Moona. Then just in time for Luna to return she finds new bearers for the elements that can completely cure her sister.
Except when she was trapped Luna she lost that friendship, because she was literally facing down her best friend and who she must have felt betrayed her and the entire kingdom.
#3: Well, she is the Element of Honesty. And it isn't an honest business practice to give friends special treatment. I could probably defend this episode better if I cared. Like you, I do enjoy the song and Dash's torment. And that's all you need. Though I also loved the AJ letter at the end.
This guy's like the Jontron of the MLP community. He goes all out with the costumes for simple jokes. He focuses more on making jokes than making criticisms, which is a fresh of breath air to this community.
you sir. Are a genius. Your video cues and witty song choices (oh my gosh, i about died at Tradition) make you one of the best youtube-ers I've ever seen. I am going to recommend you to as many people as possible because i just cannot believe your videos aren't as popular as they should be. thank you for your work :)
My headcanon on your question at the end is a few things. One perhaps Celestia lack of ability with half the elements made it impossible. Maybe Nightmare moon's hatred was too strong and so instead of curing her or draining her magic it was only possible to send her to the moon, and the reason why it worked later was likely cause Luna had been on the moon for a freaking 1,000, that would make anyone lonely and more willing to give up their hate instead of returning, or perhaps Twilight does not have specific control on what the elements actually do. Maybe she has a idea of what should happen but for that episode it was heat of the moment kind of thing and the elements probably did a random attack of draining Luna's magic or something along those lines, maybe perhaps with Celestia doing some trolling behind the scenes manipulating the situation (She was awfully close for the end of the battle which is awfully suspicious.) I'm sure you can think of a assortment of good logical reason for a lot of things. I like the good representation that the Animatic of Lullaby for a princess does, with instead of the show's beam, Celestia was mere seconds from defeat and was lucky to have been thrown into the room containing the elements and used them in a quick random reaction, (While shedding a single tear) If you have not seen it i suggest you try it since i would have preferred they had done that battle scene instead since while the full animation is not done it shows a pretty interesting story, which is better then what the show can provide in a short time..
Awesomesauce my Australian bretheren. I think that Luna was sent to the moon because they had to be used at once, in harmony as it were. Luna was half the supply of ammunition to the big guns so Celestia fell back on moon banishment as the next available option. Looking forward to more, thank you.
Well, after the season 4 premier, I would imagine because the first blast against Nightmare Moon didn't take her out because the elements were not at full power... Celestia had before only used 3 of them and so wasn't fully in tune with all of them, so she could only lock her sister away. Hell, so many people seem to think Luna and Celestia couldn't use the elements anymore, but what if that isn't so, what if they could, but because they didn't fully resonate with them, it wasn't to its max potency?
This video always makes me feel better after a bad day XD I never realized how off everything was until you explained everything, though. Huh. The song is really the only reason I like this episode so much. It is actually based on a song from the Music Man musical. Back when I took violin lessons, I showed it to my teacher (who loves the Music Man), and he thought it was priceless. It is very similar to the actual song ("You've Got Trouble"). Plus, I secretly turned it into a "hard work beats apathetic shortcuts" moral...
Finally, I get to post my essay about his episode somewhere to be seen. This is my favorite episode and while I admit it does have its flaws, I think I can rebuddle most of your criticisms. 1. Why didn't the Apples make the deal at the start? Yes, this is a problem, but one I believe could have been solved easily. During the song, we don't see how long it takes for the brothers to shoot out their first barrel. And if the audience can't see it, I just going to assume that the Apples couldn't either. Just have the Apples challenge that machine and claim it's bad business to do the deal instead of claiming they'll lose the farm. Problem solved. 2. Morals I don't know about everyone else, but I see 2 pretty clearly. The first is the one on the letter, quality over quantity. This isn't the juicy one so I'll just skip over it. The other is "Don't rest on your laurels". This also makes Film and Flam's actions at the end make more sense. Because they got cocky and thought they had the world at their feet, they made a stupid mistake. And this was the first time the Ponyvillians tried any of their cider, except for Granny Smith but I didn't see her wield the element of honesty. Because the pony's first real impression of FlimFlam Cider was horrible, the brothers shot themselves in the ... hoof I guess? So they had to skedaddle on out to make a better first impression somewhere else. 3. Flim and Flam aren't really villains OK, they aren't many things that make them villains. The primary one was that this episode was a parallel to the american folk tale John Henry vs. the Machine and I don't know exactly how many people would have made that connection. To that I say DAMN YOU LARSON!!!! However, the comics did throw us a lifeline on this front. In the Rarity micro series, we learn that the hippies, I can't remember their names, made a bad deal with the duo and were about to lose their land. Now this doesn't sound like the brothers that we see in this episode. However, I have a headcanon that can fix this whole mess right up. The brothers weren't just content with making a deal with the Apples and living hapilly ever after, they wanted money, a lot of it, and they have a plan. Step 1: Make deal that is more beneficial on your end than it is on the victims end Step 2: Make the victims dependent on you and your machine Step 3: Tighten the screws until the victims are one the brink of collapse Step 4: When your victims can't reach your now outrageous price line, take their property Step 5: Sell to the highest bidder, rinse and repeat. Now I know this is just a headcanon, but if this is correct than these two have come up with a plan the pony mafia would be proud to call their own. And by the way they strolled into town, it didn't look like their first song and dance. So yeah, Flim and Flam are some pretty nasty con men. And that's all I have to say about that.
Quite right... It's clearer the next time we see those two, selling cure-all tonic no less. Of course, AJ is suspicious, Granny is not... and it *seems* to work. (Placebo). And well along with honesty, there's another thing set up from the start by Granny: "Leave flying to the pegasi". Somehow she forgot that... And then, third time, Viva Las Pegasus, we see the brothers again. All the history between AJ and the brothers has a role to play here; this time they aren't the "villain" at all. No, it's someone who can be SO convincing he's managed to get Flim&Flam trust *him* more than each other -- and set them against each other. They're not the only ones he's fooled with either. Other's refuse to believe any such thing, but Flim&Flam, because of those encounters with AJ, do. It's easy when AJ does it. Because they *know* AJ never lies. Then they team up. F&F don't stop being con-men though. (Still, they go with true words on the end scene at least).
I think that when Celestia used all 6 elements the first time her power alone was too weak to just cure Luna's infestation of the Nightmares, so instead she was forced to seal her away. After all, the elements DO run on friendship itself. 1000 years later when all 6 of the true bearers wielded the elements they had more than enough power to cure Luna.
Although when I first heard it, I didn't have any problem understanding Granny Smith until she got to the line about what I thought was "Appalachian quality and care". I thought it was brilliant to have an Apple family member step in to return blows in this song, especially for it to be the eldest member defending her legacy.
Huh...I must say, Mr. Antony here pretty much explained in complete detail on how I felt on this episode. Word for word. Hmm....interesting. Anyway, keep up the great work my good man. :)
Boy howdy, I wonder what Season 4 has in store for Antony C? Because you have a love for big production and spend a lot of time to produce a good, funny, but insightful finished product...a style best suited for breaks between seasons than episode-a-week commentaries. Eh, I'm sure it'll be worth it at the end of the season when we get a 45 minute season overview that crushes all other season overviews! :P And the collabs will keep rolling around like clockwork to keep us satiated in the meantime.
10 лет назад+1
I remember watching this video a while ago and geeking out how it explains my thoughts on this episode in a way that is uncanny, because it's so accurate. And then, I couldn't find it again. I didn't remember the author or anything that would give me hints to how to get to this video. Finally "Elements of Brony" provided me with the possibility to put a name to the face and find the video again and I iz happy.
Really getting into your videos! Between you and GoldenFox, I tend to agree that this was a fun if massively flawed episode. It was a lot of fun but the lesson it was trying to teach (or not to teach?) was pretty awful. And while AJ's letter might have been really funny in another situation--here it was like a badge of honor that she's thick. She and her family got into a bad situation because they were arrogant if not downright stupid, and only got out of it because they were lucky. And they learned NOTHING? If I were there I would've definitely told Applejack to go sit in the corner until she had thought about what she'd done.
Maybe the reason Celestia couldn't cure Nightmare Moon from her evil state is because she lacked all the powers of the elements, in the flashback in season 4 episode 2, we see Luna having half of the elements in her backpack thing.
My theory for why the elements banished Luna rather than transform her back is quite simple. The elements were weaker when used by Celestia as the means for using them were not harmonic. So when the elements are placed into the mane 6's hooves, it reaches the pinnacle of its power allowing for the harmonic solution of bringing Luna back. As for Discord, the result remains the same since he is a being of chaos. Another possibility (though unlikely) is the elements can be influenced through specified spells sort of like how they summoned Discord.
My best assumption is that the elements work best when each one is used individually. Essentially you get more juice from each element being used by the paragon of that value rather than one single pony that strongly encompasses all 6. It also doesn't hurt to have that energy stabilized and channeled by 6 minds instead of 1, albeit belonging to one who is pretty much god.
alright so princess luna, couple guesses, celestia was desperate and did the first thing she could think of, since she was only 1 pony she didnt have enough power to change her back herself, trollestia wanted a test for anypony that could take her place in the future, thats all i got, oh or lousy writing
When "Tradition" started playing, I was so tempted to get up out of my chair and start doing Tevye's dance. But my family already takes me for an alien from Pluto, so I thought it better to just dance in my computer chair when no one was looking. AHAHAHAHAHA-- ...I'm so sad.
Between the stampedes caused by their employees, the fallout AJ got when she poisoned half the town, Big Macintosh's destruction of Berry Punch's house, and the craziness Applebloom gets up to on a regular basis, I think the reason they're so in debt is due to the constant lawsuits they get. I am joking, of course.
Applebloom´s extorsion to Bombon in S1E12 "Call of the Cutie" [when she put lots of apples inside the right saddlebag of the background pony]; make AJ so worried of being demanded (she is the responsable adult for AB), that she had to buy her silence about the incident giving up ALL of the remaning apples. For all we know, once you lose your reputation in the Ponyville´s Fruit Market, nobody will ever buy you anything anymore. [Unrelated?: The Equestria Girl´s human!AppleJack stoped to talk with human!RainbowDash when (she tought) the later had framed her to "look like a liar" to anyone else].
2 potential answers: 1) She didn't want to hurt her sister. She saw what the elements did to Discord and Sombra and didn't want to destroy her sister. Though banishing her to the moon is harsh as well, it again didn't wipe her from existence per say. 2) Since it was only Celestia wielding them, they weren't as strong. It was basically just a force that knocked Luna back after all. Whether it be that it was just a single pony rather than a coupe or multitude of ponies OR that that maybe Celestia didn't represent ALL the elements to use them properly.
Could you please do "a friend in deed"? It's the one where Pinkie sings Smile Smile Smile. I love that song. Also, Luna controlled three of the elements. Loyalty, honesty, and laughter (I think). Celestia couldn't have used all six of them at once to free her sister.
This episode is even worse thanks to "Leap of Faith". They had the perfect opportunity to fix it. Show that Flim and Flam were ruined by the Apples, and add guilt to get AJ to keep quiet about what she knows. Then, have them see that Granny Smith is about to kill herself, and they come clean. Applejack has her rainbow moment, and confesses that she should have partnered with them in the first place. She hires them on with their SSCS-6000 at a fair price for everyone.
She has been stuck on the moon because the elements wasn't strong enough with only Celestia's magic to use them, but with the strongest magic of all, the friendship, they was strong enough.
one thing that would make this episode awesome is when aj asked is family could help. she could have used shouted SOUPS UP EVRY PONY and then every member of the apple family rush in to help. like everyone like in the first episode
to answer your question......yeah I know everybody's using that but please just read. Celestia absorbed part of the elements with caused her mane to change from pink to rainbow. (I hate that it wasn't shown in Season 4 during the flashback, (and that battle scene sucked compared to the unfinished battle animation in Lullaby for a princess)) ahem. However, Celestia had no intentions of harming her sister the way they did in the Discord incident so she simply repels her and of course (for whatever reason) she's sent to te moon instead, possibly because that last shot was stronger than Celestia intended and now she cant use the elements again as she already has traces of them in her being. as to why it took a thousand years, that's probably because the spell was so strong that Luna needed an astinomical event to assist in her escape, Hence the lineing up of the stars similer to the planetaty alignment fiasco in so many other stories (hurcules and Transformers prime to name a few). and true, Celestia is strong enough to make this happen herself, (Sun princess duh) its possible that it had to happen somewhat more naturaly, I mean sure the princesses raise the sun and moon but nobody said anything about the stars, I mean Luna could just be clearing the air so they show through or something. Well that's all I got, and that's my theory on that. thanks for reading. (if you didn't...well...what can I do....huh.)
this is why i like to view reviews, because i get to see what my brain couldn't see in the moment because it was distracted by the shininess of the show. seriusly i didn't notice those obvius points from that episode, i thought the episode was a hoot!! but there was always something that was off and i coudn't put my finger on it... but after this.. yeah now i see the derp in this episode...
I agree that the whole episode has huge logic flaws. But 1920s-stockbroker-outfit-Anthony has overlooked something too: Revenues do not equal profits! If the Apple Family takes the deal and sells 3x the apples at 25% of the price, the revenues only decrease by a fraction buuuut they need to grow three times the apples with all associated costs (buying/maintaining land, planting, watering etc.). Unless you assume that the costs for that are negligible or they have enough apples anyway that would otherwise just go to waste, this might easily eat the whole profit margin. So I can see why this would be a bad deal for the Apples. Even if you assume that all the costs for harvesting/postprocessing evaporate since the Flim Flams will take care of that, if the "growing apple costs" are near or above 25% of the reatil price, this whole deal will be pointless for the apples. (Still wouldn't bankrupt them though since they have so many other apple products to sell). And the Flim Flams hurried departure makes at least some kind of sense: They depend on image and public perception, which they ruined with the low-quality cider. It's true they still have a lot of good-quality product sitting around, but they probably assume that no one will buy from them after this PR disaster. That at least kinda makes sense.
"For the very most important ingredient can't be added or done expedient. And it's quality friends -- Applacres quality and care!" And that's the magic of closed captioning. XD
The transformation of Luna has always been something that irked the hell out of me. Interestingly enough, this was also what originally sparked my interest in the show. I developed a sort of headcanon, where Celestia is to blame for Luna being taken over by Nightmare Moon and decided to ban her sister to the moon in a knee-jerk reaction. This whole thought process of me sympathising with Luna got me so invested in the show that I literally could not not continue to follow the show. Also, I still think that there is some truth to this headcanon.
I always thought that the "Lose the farm" reason was because they wouldn't have enough apples after the sale. I figured that the apple family could only sell so many apples on the off season and that the apples they sold for cider were just extra that they had left over. With the 75/25 split, it would be possible that they could sell all the apples in the farm and not make the same profits they could without the split, regardless of the time it would take. I was more annoyed that the apple family didn't just raise the price of the cider. If they aren't having any problems selling it, they should raise the price until they are having a hard time selling it. Then they could always bottle/keg and sell it later at a lower price. That or hire labourers to help in the process (their friends seemed to quicken the pace, maybe that could be a lesson). Improving your business, even that would have been a better moral then "drunk cider, learned nothing" :P
Answer: They probably could have cured Her in the past, but Celestia chose banishment as an under-pressure, quick-decision. Personally, I kind of dismiss that fact mostly because the 2-part pilot is really a condensed version of what Lauren Faust wanted the whole show to be.(Seriously, Why has she not sought crowd-sourcing for her TV projects yet, so the focus groups, corporate oversight, and nelson ratings can be darned!?!)
I am SO SO glad you fixed this! I watch this video damn near once a day! You should really do another video or two in this set- as much as I love these ones, it gets a bit repetitive without others to watch. (Seriously, you're pretty much the funniest pony overthinker type out there, but you have the lowest video count. :( )
In response to your question: Looking at magic there needs to be a degree of understanding (eg when Twilight completed Starsworld's spell it was because she understood a lot about friendship or the mane six were unable to use/be the Elements of Harmony because Discord had manipulated them), when Celestia was fighting her sister they were not in Harmony so Celestia was not able weild what Harmony and Friendship represents. This is a bit like having a Swiss Army Knife and needing to unscrew a part of a camping stove but only using the large blade (not the screwdriver) so the task is done but in a crude way resulting in damage to the device. Sorry for the odd example; weird parts of my mind come into focus when I'm tired.
In the comics, the nightmare essence that turns Luna into Nightmare Moon is sent back to the moon after Twi and Co meet her in the ruins. It could be that Celestia thought that it was her sister's actual desires to usurp her, but Twi just wanted to make this pony not evil. Hence, Celestia wards off her sister and Twi and co return her to normal.
That first point... that actually makes a good deal of sense! Heck, you wouldn't even need to get rid of the competition: just make it so that it's a test of the machine, and if it doesn't hold up to their claims, no deal! Of course, you could still have the moral that's currently in the episode: just have it so that the Cider-Squeezy doesn't produce cider that's good enough to sell in the first place! Or instead, if you want the machine to work as advertised, you could have it be to not arbitrarily reject new ideas for the sake of "tradition", as long as you don't skimp on the quality of the results! But no, if they did either of those things then the Apples wouldn't be at risk, so OF COURSE they can't do that...
Objection: Your math fails to note the fact that there are both a limited number of Cider Apples, and a limited number of Ponies to buy it. If you compare the number of Visible ponies in front of Rainbow Dash to the number that are around for flim and flam's song, (presumeablly most of the ponies that were unable to get any) You find that a there were three times as many ponies served as not. This means that even if you have a significant margin of error, the ponies left unserved cannot be greater than the number served. Ponyville could not support three times the amount of Cider, let alone four, and while I am sure that Exporting Cider as a Commodity is unlikely as the apples clearly only have enough apples to create twice their usual amount of Cider. They would run out of apples and then only be getting a fourth of their usual income from the cider. Beyond that, you are pretty much right.
But they didn't stop the contest because they ran out of apples, they stopped the contest because they ran out of time. From what we saw, even after the Apple Family had made more than enough cider to satisfy the town, and the Flim Flam bros had made a batch even bigger that nobody even used, Sweet Apple Acres' trees were mostly still covered in apples. They don't seem to have any foreseeable supply problems. If the Apple Family was concerned about running out, then they probably wouldn't have agreed to let the Flim Flam bros. use any of their apples in the first place.
Dave Rhodes Actually they agreed to let the Flim Flam Brothers use the trees in a part of the field they had not intended on using for Cider this year. I suspect that only a certain amount of Apples were actually earmarked for cider use, and winter wrap-up seems to indicate that the Trees themselves disappear during the winter (Like the Pokemon Universe's Berry Bushes) needing to be replanted in the spring, so there are likely only a limited amount going to Cider Production, which explains why you don't otherwise see the Apple family speeding up their own production to its maximum level before this. In the challenge, they blew through more apples in one day then they did in an entire Cider season before. Enough for the entire town. Again, the Customer base is the main issue.
It seems that the Elements of Harmony can't be used by just anyone. Celestia was able to banish Luna to the moon using the elements, but just barely and she wasn't strong enough to undo the damage that had been done. Only lock Luna away. Twilight and her friends became the new holders of the elements, and all of them. With their powers combined! They freed Luna, instead of just imprisoning her again.
in asnwer to your question, The elements were able to cure Luna because they where being wielded by six ponyes and only where able to lock her in the moon because they were being used by Celestia alone. They are after all the elements of harmony
I think that maybe Luna was sent to the moon the first time because only Celestia was using the elements. Maybe the elements work best when each has their own bearer, especially if that bearer really represents their element, and that's how the Mane 6 managed to reform Nightmare Moon.
Answer to Q: Celestia has no friends making the elements more harmful to others but since twilight has friends (sorta), the elements are used in a way so instead of here's a rainbow, have a banana and go to the moon. It instead changes it's powers to taste the rainbow, friendship is the condom against evil and Celestia (Trolestia) knew all this from the start of the episode because she reads the script at the start and loves spoilers. Because logic!
I was able to understand every word Granny Smith said in the song. But maybe it's because my mom & one of my sisters speak the same way due to having no teeth.
We were told that only friends can use the elements of harmony so when princess Celestia was forced to use them on her only friend and sister perhaps the elements weren't at there full power
Do leap of faith. By the way the answer to your question is either 1. Celestia only had half the elements (I'm guessing at the time they were the elements of sisterhood? Because they obviously weren't friendship.) and therfore she was too weak to cure her. 2. Celestia banished her sister for a measly prank (there never was a Nightmare Moon during this theory.) and Luna got mad and became the real Nightmare Moon then by that time the elements blasted her realized she was over reacting.
apparently Granny Smith said "A Farmer very important ingredient can be and it's quality free every year." The funniest thing for me is after Flim(?) Says "Tumblr" XD
to answer your question. I think it was because celestia used the elements, not the main 6. therefore, she could not use the full exstent of its power.
The elements of harmony weren't strong with princess celestia so she could not free her sister of the jelousy monster things, so she imprisoned nightmare in the moon
I know I'm late.... But about the elements, Princess Celestia doesn't fully represent each element. Each element must be used by a pony who fully represents it to allow the elements to reach their full potential. It's easier to send someone to the moon and to change someone's heart, desires, and feelings.
Do Princess Twilight Sparkle please. On the Luna/elements issue: My head cannon is that Celestia was only the natural user of three of those elements, and thus could not use them to their full potential like the Mane Six can. Building on this, actually, it means that each of the main character's had better control over each of their elements then Celestia or Luna did over any three.
...It's a little late for me to be answering this question...I shall answer it nonetheless. I've always thought that, since Celestia and Luna were the true bearers of the Elements, they couldn't be at full power when turned against one of their bearers, or only used by half of the bearers. Or, as soon as Luna became Nightmare Moon, Celestia and Luna lost their roles as bearers of the Elements, so Celestia couldn't use them fully. A weapon is still a weapon, even if not in the hands of its owner. So Celestia could still use the magic of the Elements to banish her sister, though she couldn't tap into their true potential.
During Granny Smith's bit, in the last part she said, "And it's quality, friends, Apple Acres' quality and care!" But, yeah, it did sound like she mumbled it to point where one won't be able catch it the first time, unless one listens to it very, very carefully or looks it up.
wait. ugh that track you used for mumbler around 2:28 wheres it from. Gosh it's killing me. I want to say The Incredibles, but i'm not sure if that's it. Someone PLEASE TELL ME
Приколы
I have an idea for a review - one of the best episodes actually!
Do a Canterlot Wedding! ^^
_(What? I have to keep the time stream stable until we are able to exit this time loop!)_
Celestia locked Luna away because Celestia wanted to remove her sister from the equation and seize absolute power for herself, and remake Equestria in her image and cement her cult of personality. You never hear a pony say "Thank Luna" or "With Luna as my witness"
And yet even in the reupload the word "mortgage" is still misspelled.
...
Yes, I am an asshole.
AntonyC does not support revisionism.
...and go fondle a hedgehog.
Antony C You mean echidna right?
Don't forget aweseome.
Answer to your question at the end. In the beginning of The Return of Harmony, Celestia mentions how the mane six were able to harness the full power of the elements. Perhaps Celestia alone couldn't harness the full power and could only solve the problem temporarily by sending Luna to the Moona. Then just in time for Luna to return she finds new bearers for the elements that can completely cure her sister.
+ To that Celestia is more powerful with her sister friendship
MIND FRICKIN BLOWN!!!
Except when she was trapped Luna she lost that friendship, because she was literally facing down her best friend and who she must have felt betrayed her and the entire kingdom.
I just thought Celestia was a troll, like a really dickish troll
So you've got morgage, and everyone caught that. But did you notice that you also said that Applebloom is "aweseome?"
Sorry, couldn't resist.
O_O
>.<
O_O
...
Bugger...
go fondle a hedge hog! i have i pet one you can have
Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh you are good!!
I know this is two years old, but I almost made that same remark just now.
Ah well. Off to scrutinize other videos for grammatical errors.
#3: Well, she is the Element of Honesty. And it isn't an honest business practice to give friends special treatment.
I could probably defend this episode better if I cared. Like you, I do enjoy the song and Dash's torment. And that's all you need. Though I also loved the AJ letter at the end.
This guy's like the Jontron of the MLP community.
He goes all out with the costumes for simple jokes.
He focuses more on making jokes than making criticisms, which is a fresh of breath air to this community.
you sir. Are a genius.
Your video cues and witty song choices (oh my gosh, i about died at Tradition) make you one of the best youtube-ers I've ever seen. I am going to recommend you to as many people as possible because i just cannot believe your videos aren't as popular as they should be.
thank you for your work :)
My headcanon on your question at the end is a few things. One perhaps Celestia lack of ability with half the elements made it impossible. Maybe Nightmare moon's hatred was too strong and so instead of curing her or draining her magic it was only possible to send her to the moon, and the reason why it worked later was likely cause Luna had been on the moon for a freaking 1,000, that would make anyone lonely and more willing to give up their hate instead of returning, or perhaps Twilight does not have specific control on what the elements actually do. Maybe she has a idea of what should happen but for that episode it was heat of the moment kind of thing and the elements probably did a random attack of draining Luna's magic or something along those lines, maybe perhaps with Celestia doing some trolling behind the scenes manipulating the situation (She was awfully close for the end of the battle which is awfully suspicious.)
I'm sure you can think of a assortment of good logical reason for a lot of things. I like the good representation that the Animatic of Lullaby for a princess does, with instead of the show's beam, Celestia was mere seconds from defeat and was lucky to have been thrown into the room containing the elements and used them in a quick random reaction, (While shedding a single tear) If you have not seen it i suggest you try it since i would have preferred they had done that battle scene instead since while the full animation is not done it shows a pretty interesting story, which is better then what the show can provide in a short time..
yaaaay! words cant express how much the random stills bothered me on the old one, so nice to see it fixed! thanks!
I love your content, you've earned yourself YET ANOTHER subscriber :3
I love your face expression when Applejack was thinking/writing her letter to Princess Celestia....Priceless~! XD
Glad to see this again, and can't wait for your next new video.
Awesomesauce my Australian bretheren.
I think that Luna was sent to the moon because they had to be used at once, in harmony as it were. Luna was half the supply of ammunition to the big guns so Celestia fell back on moon banishment as the next available option.
Looking forward to more, thank you.
Well, after the season 4 premier, I would imagine because the first blast against Nightmare Moon didn't take her out because the elements were not at full power... Celestia had before only used 3 of them and so wasn't fully in tune with all of them, so she could only lock her sister away. Hell, so many people seem to think Luna and Celestia couldn't use the elements anymore, but what if that isn't so, what if they could, but because they didn't fully resonate with them, it wasn't to its max potency?
LOL! Antony, your face at 06:42 made me bust a gut. XD You're funny!
This video always makes me feel better after a bad day XD
I never realized how off everything was until you explained everything, though. Huh.
The song is really the only reason I like this episode so much. It is actually based on a song from the Music Man musical. Back when I took violin lessons, I showed it to my teacher (who loves the Music Man), and he thought it was priceless. It is very similar to the actual song ("You've Got Trouble").
Plus, I secretly turned it into a "hard work beats apathetic shortcuts" moral...
Finally, I get to post my essay about his episode somewhere to be seen. This is my favorite episode and while I admit it does have its flaws, I think I can rebuddle most of your criticisms.
1. Why didn't the Apples make the deal at the start?
Yes, this is a problem, but one I believe could have been solved easily. During the song, we don't see how long it takes for the brothers to shoot out their first barrel. And if the audience can't see it, I just going to assume that the Apples couldn't either. Just have the Apples challenge that machine and claim it's bad business to do the deal instead of claiming they'll lose the farm. Problem solved.
2. Morals
I don't know about everyone else, but I see 2 pretty clearly. The first is the one on the letter, quality over quantity. This isn't the juicy one so I'll just skip over it. The other is "Don't rest on your laurels". This also makes Film and Flam's actions at the end make more sense. Because they got cocky and thought they had the world at their feet, they made a stupid mistake. And this was the first time the Ponyvillians tried any of their cider, except for Granny Smith but I didn't see her wield the element of honesty. Because the pony's first real impression of FlimFlam Cider was horrible, the brothers shot themselves in the ... hoof I guess? So they had to skedaddle on out to make a better first impression somewhere else.
3. Flim and Flam aren't really villains
OK, they aren't many things that make them villains. The primary one was that this episode was a parallel to the american folk tale John Henry vs. the Machine and I don't know exactly how many people would have made that connection. To that I say DAMN YOU LARSON!!!! However, the comics did throw us a lifeline on this front. In the Rarity micro series, we learn that the hippies, I can't remember their names, made a bad deal with the duo and were about to lose their land. Now this doesn't sound like the brothers that we see in this episode. However, I have a headcanon that can fix this whole mess right up. The brothers weren't just content with making a deal with the Apples and living hapilly ever after, they wanted money, a lot of it, and they have a plan.
Step 1: Make deal that is more beneficial on your end than it is on the victims end
Step 2: Make the victims dependent on you and your machine
Step 3: Tighten the screws until the victims are one the brink of collapse
Step 4: When your victims can't reach your now outrageous price line, take their property
Step 5: Sell to the highest bidder, rinse and repeat.
Now I know this is just a headcanon, but if this is correct than these two have come up with a plan the pony mafia would be proud to call their own. And by the way they strolled into town, it didn't look like their first song and dance. So yeah, Flim and Flam are some pretty nasty con men.
And that's all I have to say about that.
"64 lines"
lol nope
Well I did say it was an essay
Quite right... It's clearer the next time we see those two, selling cure-all tonic no less. Of course, AJ is suspicious, Granny is not... and it *seems* to work. (Placebo). And well along with honesty, there's another thing set up from the start by Granny: "Leave flying to the pegasi". Somehow she forgot that...
And then, third time, Viva Las Pegasus, we see the brothers again. All the history between AJ and the brothers has a role to play here; this time they aren't the "villain" at all. No, it's someone who can be SO convincing he's managed to get Flim&Flam trust *him* more than each other -- and set them against each other. They're not the only ones he's fooled with either. Other's refuse to believe any such thing, but Flim&Flam, because of those encounters with AJ, do. It's easy when AJ does it. Because they *know* AJ never lies. Then they team up. F&F don't stop being con-men though. (Still, they go with true words on the end scene at least).
Your reviews are great! And your "dude" persona is funny as hell.
I think that when Celestia used all 6 elements the first time her power alone was too weak to just cure Luna's infestation of the Nightmares, so instead she was forced to seal her away. After all, the elements DO run on friendship itself. 1000 years later when all 6 of the true bearers wielded the elements they had more than enough power to cure Luna.
Awsome revew!
Yay! I was hoping that awesome song wasn't going to fall by the wayside in your review!
Although when I first heard it, I didn't have any problem understanding Granny Smith until she got to the line about what I thought was "Appalachian quality and care".
I thought it was brilliant to have an Apple family member step in to return blows in this song, especially for it to be the eldest member defending her legacy.
you have the best reviews
Huh...I must say, Mr. Antony here pretty much explained in complete detail on how I felt on this episode. Word for word.
Hmm....interesting. Anyway, keep up the great work my good man. :)
Boy howdy, I wonder what Season 4 has in store for Antony C? Because you have a love for big production and spend a lot of time to produce a good, funny, but insightful finished product...a style best suited for breaks between seasons than episode-a-week commentaries.
Eh, I'm sure it'll be worth it at the end of the season when we get a 45 minute season overview that crushes all other season overviews! :P And the collabs will keep rolling around like clockwork to keep us satiated in the meantime.
I remember watching this video a while ago and geeking out how it explains my thoughts on this episode in a way that is uncanny, because it's so accurate. And then, I couldn't find it again. I didn't remember the author or anything that would give me hints to how to get to this video. Finally "Elements of Brony" provided me with the possibility to put a name to the face and find the video again and I iz happy.
Really getting into your videos!
Between you and GoldenFox, I tend to agree that this was a fun if massively flawed episode. It was a lot of fun but the lesson it was trying to teach (or not to teach?) was pretty awful. And while AJ's letter might have been really funny in another situation--here it was like a badge of honor that she's thick.
She and her family got into a bad situation because they were arrogant if not downright stupid, and only got out of it because they were lucky. And they learned NOTHING? If I were there I would've definitely told Applejack to go sit in the corner until she had thought about what she'd done.
Maybe the reason Celestia couldn't cure Nightmare Moon from her evil state is because she lacked all the powers of the elements, in the flashback in season 4 episode 2, we see Luna having half of the elements in her backpack thing.
the ending is absolutely fantastic
My theory for why the elements banished Luna rather than transform her back is quite simple. The elements were weaker when used by Celestia as the means for using them were not harmonic. So when the elements are placed into the mane 6's hooves, it reaches the pinnacle of its power allowing for the harmonic solution of bringing Luna back. As for Discord, the result remains the same since he is a being of chaos. Another possibility (though unlikely) is the elements can be influenced through specified spells sort of like how they summoned Discord.
My best assumption is that the elements work best when each one is used individually. Essentially you get more juice from each element being used by the paragon of that value rather than one single pony that strongly encompasses all 6. It also doesn't hurt to have that energy stabilized and channeled by 6 minds instead of 1, albeit belonging to one who is pretty much god.
Ah, that accent!
Keep it up, Antony.
And the math...
I'm learnin' tips on how to run my business here!
alright so princess luna, couple guesses, celestia was desperate and did the first thing she could think of, since she was only 1 pony she didnt have enough power to change her back herself, trollestia wanted a test for anypony that could take her place in the future, thats all i got, oh or lousy writing
When "Tradition" started playing, I was so tempted to get up out of my chair and start doing Tevye's dance. But my family already takes me for an alien from Pluto, so I thought it better to just dance in my computer chair when no one was looking.
AHAHAHAHAHA-- ...I'm so sad.
Between the stampedes caused by their employees, the fallout AJ got when she poisoned half the town, Big Macintosh's destruction of Berry Punch's house, and the craziness Applebloom gets up to on a regular basis, I think the reason they're so in debt is due to the constant lawsuits they get.
I am joking, of course.
Applebloom´s extorsion to Bombon in S1E12 "Call of the Cutie" [when she put lots of apples inside the right saddlebag of the background pony]; make AJ so worried of being demanded (she is the responsable adult for AB), that she had to buy her silence about the incident giving up ALL of the remaning apples.
For all we know, once you lose your reputation in the Ponyville´s Fruit Market, nobody will ever buy you anything anymore.
[Unrelated?: The Equestria Girl´s human!AppleJack stoped to talk with human!RainbowDash when (she tought) the later had framed her to "look like a liar" to anyone else].
2 potential answers:
1) She didn't want to hurt her sister. She saw what the elements did to Discord and Sombra and didn't want to destroy her sister. Though banishing her to the moon is harsh as well, it again didn't wipe her from existence per say.
2) Since it was only Celestia wielding them, they weren't as strong. It was basically just a force that knocked Luna back after all. Whether it be that it was just a single pony rather than a coupe or multitude of ponies OR that that maybe Celestia didn't represent ALL the elements to use them properly.
Could you please do "a friend in deed"? It's the one where Pinkie sings Smile Smile Smile. I love that song.
Also, Luna controlled three of the elements. Loyalty, honesty, and laughter (I think). Celestia couldn't have used all six of them at once to free her sister.
This episode is even worse thanks to "Leap of Faith". They had the perfect opportunity to fix it. Show that Flim and Flam were ruined by the Apples, and add guilt to get AJ to keep quiet about what she knows. Then, have them see that Granny Smith is about to kill herself, and they come clean. Applejack has her rainbow moment, and confesses that she should have partnered with them in the first place. She hires them on with their SSCS-6000 at a fair price for everyone.
0:57 Antony becomes a Baccano character.
"I drink from the keg of glory, Donna. Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land." --Pinkie Pie...
No wait... --Josh Lyman
I NEED TO WRITE A FANFICTION WITH ALL YOUR IDEAS. Also, are you gonna review the newest FlimFlam episode about Las Pegasus?
I liked the Jittery Stills. ;_;
Also I enjoy your work and method of reviewing. A bit too much but never the less.
Rainbow: *gets snubbed for another drink of cider* IT BECAUSE I'M RAINBOW, ISN'T IT? I am most definitely going to hell.
dat ending doe 10/10
love this episode how many costume changes did it take.
In answer to your question, That's our trollestia!
She has been stuck on the moon because the elements wasn't strong enough with only Celestia's magic to use them, but with the strongest magic of all, the friendship, they was strong enough.
one thing that would make this episode awesome is when aj asked is family could help. she could have used shouted SOUPS UP EVRY PONY and then every member of the apple family rush in to help. like everyone like in the first episode
to answer your question......yeah I know everybody's using that but please just read.
Celestia absorbed part of the elements with caused her mane to change from pink to rainbow. (I hate that it wasn't shown in Season 4 during the flashback, (and that battle scene sucked compared to the unfinished battle animation in Lullaby for a princess)) ahem.
However, Celestia had no intentions of harming her sister the way they did in the Discord incident so she simply repels her and of course (for whatever reason) she's sent to te moon instead, possibly because that last shot was stronger than Celestia intended and now she cant use the elements again as she already has traces of them in her being.
as to why it took a thousand years, that's probably because the spell was so strong that Luna needed an astinomical event to assist in her escape, Hence the lineing up of the stars similer to the planetaty alignment fiasco in so many other stories (hurcules and Transformers prime to name a few). and true, Celestia is strong enough to make this happen herself, (Sun princess duh) its possible that it had to happen somewhat more naturaly, I mean sure the princesses raise the sun and moon but nobody said anything about the stars, I mean Luna could just be clearing the air so they show through or something.
Well that's all I got, and that's my theory on that. thanks for reading. (if you didn't...well...what can I do....huh.)
Talk about the Power Ponies! I want to see you do that!
The moral to this episode is "Take your time to do thing right!"
Welp.. you got me thinking. curse thau name Antony! :3 lol really is great
Good lord this is funny.
MY FAV SONG OF THE SLAGGING SEASON. SO STINKING CATCHY.
this is why i like to view reviews, because i get to see what my brain couldn't see in the moment because it was distracted by the shininess of the show.
seriusly i didn't notice those obvius points from that episode, i thought the episode was a hoot!! but there was always something that was off and i coudn't put my finger on it...
but after this.. yeah now i see the derp in this episode...
I agree that the whole episode has huge logic flaws. But 1920s-stockbroker-outfit-Anthony has overlooked something too: Revenues do not equal profits! If the Apple Family takes the deal and sells 3x the apples at 25% of the price, the revenues only decrease by a fraction buuuut they need to grow three times the apples with all associated costs (buying/maintaining land, planting, watering etc.). Unless you assume that the costs for that are negligible or they have enough apples anyway that would otherwise just go to waste, this might easily eat the whole profit margin.
So I can see why this would be a bad deal for the Apples. Even if you assume that all the costs for harvesting/postprocessing evaporate since the Flim Flams will take care of that, if the "growing apple costs" are near or above 25% of the reatil price, this whole deal will be pointless for the apples. (Still wouldn't bankrupt them though since they have so many other apple products to sell).
And the Flim Flams hurried departure makes at least some kind of sense: They depend on image and public perception, which they ruined with the low-quality cider. It's true they still have a lot of good-quality product sitting around, but they probably assume that no one will buy from them after this PR disaster. That at least kinda makes sense.
Your really good
"For the very most important ingredient can't be added or done expedient. And it's quality friends -- Applacres quality and care!"
And that's the magic of closed captioning. XD
The transformation of Luna has always been something that irked the hell out of me.
Interestingly enough, this was also what originally sparked my interest in the show. I developed a sort of headcanon, where Celestia is to blame for Luna being taken over by Nightmare Moon and decided to ban her sister to the moon in a knee-jerk reaction.
This whole thought process of me sympathising with Luna got me so invested in the show that I literally could not not continue to follow the show.
Also, I still think that there is some truth to this headcanon.
I agree. They could have handled that way better.
I always thought that the "Lose the farm" reason was because they wouldn't have enough apples after the sale. I figured that the apple family could only sell so many apples on the off season and that the apples they sold for cider were just extra that they had left over. With the 75/25 split, it would be possible that they could sell all the apples in the farm and not make the same profits they could without the split, regardless of the time it would take.
I was more annoyed that the apple family didn't just raise the price of the cider. If they aren't having any problems selling it, they should raise the price until they are having a hard time selling it. Then they could always bottle/keg and sell it later at a lower price. That or hire labourers to help in the process (their friends seemed to quicken the pace, maybe that could be a lesson). Improving your business, even that would have been a better moral then "drunk cider, learned nothing" :P
Do party of one, do party of one!
Answer: They probably could have cured Her in the past, but Celestia chose banishment as an under-pressure, quick-decision.
Personally, I kind of dismiss that fact mostly because the 2-part pilot is really a condensed version of what Lauren Faust wanted the whole show to be.(Seriously, Why has she not sought crowd-sourcing for her TV projects yet, so the focus groups, corporate oversight, and nelson ratings can be darned!?!)
I am SO SO glad you fixed this! I watch this video damn near once a day!
You should really do another video or two in this set- as much as I love these ones, it gets a bit repetitive without others to watch. (Seriously, you're pretty much the funniest pony overthinker type out there, but you have the lowest video count. :( )
Oh, yeah this episode. Even though it was the one of the first episodes of mlp I watched I still forget about it.
Yay! ^.^
Aaaah, nostalgia.
Any reason to give this a re-watch is a good reason.
What's that? Jimmy fell down a well? I think I'll watch some Antony C!
In response to your question:
Looking at magic there needs to be a degree of understanding (eg when Twilight completed Starsworld's spell it was because she understood a lot about friendship or the mane six were unable to use/be the Elements of Harmony because Discord had manipulated them), when Celestia was fighting her sister they were not in Harmony so Celestia was not able weild what Harmony and Friendship represents.
This is a bit like having a Swiss Army Knife and needing to unscrew a part of a camping stove but only using the large blade (not the screwdriver) so the task is done but in a crude way resulting in damage to the device.
Sorry for the odd example; weird parts of my mind come into focus when I'm tired.
In the comics, the nightmare essence that turns Luna into Nightmare Moon is sent back to the moon after Twi and Co meet her in the ruins. It could be that Celestia thought that it was her sister's actual desires to usurp her, but Twi just wanted to make this pony not evil. Hence, Celestia wards off her sister and Twi and co return her to normal.
That first point... that actually makes a good deal of sense! Heck, you wouldn't even need to get rid of the competition: just make it so that it's a test of the machine, and if it doesn't hold up to their claims, no deal! Of course, you could still have the moral that's currently in the episode: just have it so that the Cider-Squeezy doesn't produce cider that's good enough to sell in the first place! Or instead, if you want the machine to work as advertised, you could have it be to not arbitrarily reject new ideas for the sake of "tradition", as long as you don't skimp on the quality of the results! But no, if they did either of those things then the Apples wouldn't be at risk, so OF COURSE they can't do that...
Objection: Your math fails to note the fact that there are both a limited number of Cider Apples, and a limited number of Ponies to buy it. If you compare the number of Visible ponies in front of Rainbow Dash to the number that are around for flim and flam's song, (presumeablly most of the ponies that were unable to get any) You find that a there were three times as many ponies served as not. This means that even if you have a significant margin of error, the ponies left unserved cannot be greater than the number served. Ponyville could not support three times the amount of Cider, let alone four, and while I am sure that Exporting Cider as a Commodity is unlikely as the apples clearly only have enough apples to create twice their usual amount of Cider. They would run out of apples and then only be getting a fourth of their usual income from the cider.
Beyond that, you are pretty much right.
But they didn't stop the contest because they ran out of apples, they stopped the contest because they ran out of time. From what we saw, even after the Apple Family had made more than enough cider to satisfy the town, and the Flim Flam bros had made a batch even bigger that nobody even used, Sweet Apple Acres' trees were mostly still covered in apples. They don't seem to have any foreseeable supply problems. If the Apple Family was concerned about running out, then they probably wouldn't have agreed to let the Flim Flam bros. use any of their apples in the first place.
Dave Rhodes
Actually they agreed to let the Flim Flam Brothers use the trees in a part of the field they had not intended on using for Cider this year. I suspect that only a certain amount of Apples were actually earmarked for cider use, and winter wrap-up seems to indicate that the Trees themselves disappear during the winter (Like the Pokemon Universe's Berry Bushes) needing to be replanted in the spring, so there are likely only a limited amount going to Cider Production, which explains why you don't otherwise see the Apple family speeding up their own production to its maximum level before this. In the challenge, they blew through more apples in one day then they did in an entire Cider season before. Enough for the entire town. Again, the Customer base is the main issue.
do the hearth's warming eve episode! since it's the holidays and such.
BADASS APPLE BLOOM! >:3
It seems that the Elements of Harmony can't be used by just anyone. Celestia was able to banish Luna to the moon using the elements, but just barely and she wasn't strong enough to undo the damage that had been done. Only lock Luna away.
Twilight and her friends became the new holders of the elements, and all of them. With their powers combined! They freed Luna, instead of just imprisoning her again.
in asnwer to your question, The elements were able to cure Luna because they where being wielded by six ponyes and only where able to lock her in the moon because they were being used by Celestia alone. They are after all the elements of harmony
Rebuilding The barn every season might be the reason.
I think that maybe Luna was sent to the moon the first time because only Celestia was using the elements. Maybe the elements work best when each has their own bearer, especially if that bearer really represents their element, and that's how the Mane 6 managed to reform Nightmare Moon.
Answer to Q: Celestia has no friends making the elements more harmful to others but since twilight has friends (sorta), the elements are used in a way so instead of here's a rainbow, have a banana and go to the moon. It instead changes it's powers to taste the rainbow, friendship is the condom against evil and Celestia (Trolestia) knew all this from the start of the episode because she reads the script at the start and loves spoilers. Because logic!
This episode made no sense, but it really is one of my favorites! haha XD
I was able to understand every word Granny Smith said in the song. But maybe it's because my mom & one of my sisters speak the same way due to having no teeth.
Maybe you should review green isn't your color ( I said maybe ) or winter wrap up ( there's a good song! )
Can you do a review of Wonderbolt Academy?
We were told that only friends can use the elements of harmony so when princess Celestia was forced to use them on her only friend and sister perhaps the elements weren't at there full power
fiddler on the roof was my freshman musical... i was the begger
... ... do we KNOW that it was Celestia herself who assigned the Apple Family the job of making apple cider?
No, no. She only gave them the land.
okay
4:42 even rainbow dahsh. LOL
Do leap of faith. By the way the answer to your question is either
1. Celestia only had half the elements (I'm guessing at the time they were the elements of sisterhood? Because they obviously weren't friendship.) and therfore she was too weak to cure her.
2. Celestia banished her sister for a measly prank (there never was a Nightmare Moon during this theory.) and Luna got mad and became the real Nightmare Moon then by that time the elements blasted her realized she was over reacting.
Because celestia knew that twilight would come only in a thousand years time? Some kind of prophecy?
apparently Granny Smith said "A Farmer very important ingredient can be and it's quality free every year."
The funniest thing for me is after Flim(?) Says "Tumblr" XD
That's not even close to what she says lol
Dat ending needs a vid alone ...IF YOU SMEEEEELL WAT THE ROCK IS COOKING...win
to answer your question. I think it was because celestia used the elements, not the main 6. therefore, she could not use the full exstent of its power.
Celestia wanted to rule alone
The elements of harmony weren't strong with princess celestia so she could not free her sister of the jelousy monster things, so she imprisoned nightmare in the moon
I know I'm late.... But about the elements, Princess Celestia doesn't fully represent each element. Each element must be used by a pony who fully represents it to allow the elements to reach their full potential. It's easier to send someone to the moon and to change someone's heart, desires, and feelings.
Do Princess Twilight Sparkle please.
On the Luna/elements issue: My head cannon is that Celestia was only the natural user of three of those elements, and thus could not use them to their full potential like the Mane Six can. Building on this, actually, it means that each of the main character's had better control over each of their elements then Celestia or Luna did over any three.
Well it's probably because celestia wasn't sure if she would still have some power if she used the elements of harmony
Can you review luna eclipsed?
Hahaha, sharing this with my gf after 10 years
...It's a little late for me to be answering this question...I shall answer it nonetheless.
I've always thought that, since Celestia and Luna were the true bearers of the Elements, they couldn't be at full power when turned against one of their bearers, or only used by half of the bearers.
Or, as soon as Luna became Nightmare Moon, Celestia and Luna lost their roles as bearers of the Elements, so Celestia couldn't use them fully.
A weapon is still a weapon, even if not in the hands of its owner. So Celestia could still use the magic of the Elements to banish her sister, though she couldn't tap into their true potential.
During Granny Smith's bit, in the last part she said, "And it's quality, friends, Apple Acres' quality and care!" But, yeah, it did sound like she mumbled it to point where one won't be able catch it the first time, unless one listens to it very, very carefully or looks it up.
wait. ugh that track you used for mumbler around 2:28 wheres it from. Gosh it's killing me. I want to say The Incredibles, but i'm not sure if that's it. Someone PLEASE TELL ME
Try Tim Burton's Wonka film.